March-4-2009
Starting tomorrow, baseball lovers will be hit with the 2nd installment of the World Baseball Classic, and for the team from the Dominican Republic, the only thing that matters is to win the tournament. Once again the Dominicans will be well represented with some BIG league talent although there will be plenty of other bigtime players who will not be able to don the Dominican red white and blue.
Absent from the WBC will be guys like Albert Pujols, Alfonso Soriano, Vlad Guerrero, Fausto Carmona, Ervin Santana, all whom were with the team in 2006. Once again there will be no Manny, and others include Francisco Cordero, Carlos Pena, just to name a few. The main factor in why these players will not be able to play is mainly due to their major league teams obligations and insurance policies like in the case of Albert Pujols.
But even with all the big name talent that will be absent, team Dominicana will still have some heavy hitters like David Ortiz who along with Miguel Tejada & Jose Reyes will return for their 2nd WBC. Throw in newcomers like Hanley Ramirez & Edison Volquez, along with the controversial Alex Rodriguez who this time will be switching alliances from the US to DR, and team Dominicana will still have their shares of all stars to represent la patria.
In 2006, team Dominicana had an infield that was led by Albert Pujols at 1st, Placido Polanco at 2nd, Miguel Tejada at SS, and Adrain Beltre at 3rd, all whom will not be on the team this time, except for Tejada who will be making a last minute entree as a 1B slash DH.
This time the infield should be Miguel Tejada at 1B, Jose Reyes at 2nd, Hanley Ramirez at SS, and Alex Rodriguez at 3rd. This is without a doubt the team strongest area and they will be backed up by Robinson Cano, Wily Aybar and Emilio Bonifacio.
As for the catchers, the Dominicans will count on Miguel Olivo to do most of the catching while Alberto Castillo who was the backup catcher in 2006 will be back at it.
In the outfield the Dominicans will be counting on the return of Willy Tavares who will once again be patrolling CF just like in 2006. In the corners, the left fielder will be either Jose Bautista or the veteran Jose Guillen who is nursing arm problems. In right field, the surprise starter will be Nelson Cruz from the Texas Rangers, who surprisingly will get the nod due to the slim pickins of outfielders and for his emergence during the winter leagues where he displayed some natural power. Backing up the outfielders will be Moises Alou, who in 2006 was the staring LF. Alou will be the team captain and will be by his father Felipe Alou side who will be the skipper.
As you can see the outfield is not as glamorous as the infield, and is clearly the teams weakest point.
Now lets take a look at the pitching. The big man will be Edison Volquez who will lead the staff in the tournament and should be followed by his Cincinnati Red's teammate Johnny Cueto, followed by hard throwing Ubaldo Jimenez, while Pedro Martinez and Odalis Perez should finish the rest of the rotation. In the later innings, the Dominicans will throw in lefties Damaso Marte and Rafael Perez, and from the right side the arms will be Jose Arredondo, Juan Cruz, Carlos Marmol, Jose Veras, and Tony Pena. As you can see the pitching looks to be ok, especially in the bullpen.
The line-up should look something like this:
2B-Jose Reyes
SS-Hanley Ramirez
3B-Alex Rodriguez
DH-David Ortiz
1B-Miguel Tejada
LF-Jose Guillen
RF-Nelson Cruz
C- Miguel Olivo
CF-Wily Tavares
In 2006, The Dominicans fell to the Cubans, who along with Japan and
Korea were the last 4 teams in the tournament which was ultimately won by Japan who beat the Cubans for the 1st ever WBC title. This year the Dominicans will look to get further and take home the title that many in the island, and in New York, are waiting for.
The Dominicans are also looking forward to a possible meeting with team USA who could meet up with the Dominicans as one of the final 4 teams. Other favorites to win it all should be the Venezuelans who will have a line-up that will consist of some heavy hitters like Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrerra, K-ROD will be the stopper, but Venezuela will not have Johan Santana or Carlos Zambrano.
Puerto Rico could also go far as they will be led by Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Alex Rios and Giovani Soto, and veterans Pudge Rodriguez and Bernie Williams, and will be doing some hosting as they will get their pool going in Puerto Rico's Hiram Stadium, but their pitching looks to be a little suspect.
Of course team USA who flopped in 2006 will look for a better showing this time around and will be led by the leader of all leaders Derek Jeter who once again will be back forming team USA along with the Mets David Wright & American league MVP Dustin Pedroia who will make their debuts in the WBC. They will also have big time pitchers like Roy Oswalt and Jake Peavy to help form the rest of team USA cabinet.
So there you have it, look for a game by game review on team Dominicana games and outcomes, as they pursue their 1st ever WBC title.
Freddie Vargas
No comments:
Post a Comment